When trying to take photos of your little sister with trees (for the first time):

Pick a nice tree.

Pick a nice tree that isn’t in your backyard.

Try to get your sister to stand in an ant-free area.

Try to get your sister to stop complaining about the ants.

Shoot or “shoot”

Try your very best to edit the awkwardness (adjust the exposure, levels, contrast and everything!!!) out the photos.

I was really drawn to this graffiti, It looks a little bit naff but in the surrounding area it kinda of fits. The idea of something chomping away bits of the plaster and the paving.

Processed the image as a HDR in HDR Efex and toned the image in Alien Skin Exposure. I used the Jaws preset as I thought it was quite apt but added some bleach bypass tones to the image.

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The Chevron Stitch

I’ve gotta tell you, GG really gave it to me when I found this pattern. She called it the Triangles Stitch (no help there) and the instructions….I thought I would rather curl up and die than try to figure this out. Once I figured it out, which admittedly took way to much time, I was on a roll. It is a simple, dimensional and textural stitch, and now that I know what is going on I think I want to try to work with it in another way.

*Please forgive me in advance if there are any errors in my typing, I am going at this using the hunt and peck method to avoid straining my hand. I am normally a decent editor, but after a while I get tired of finding all these stupid mistakes caused by my misbehaving appendage.

 * * So GG, What Torture Awaits Us This Week? * * 

My notebook on how to discern crazy.

r1 k1 p7k1 - Row 1: K1; *P7, K1; rep. from * till end (okay, not to bad so far, she even gave me a space between row and pattern. I doesn’t last but hey!, I will take what I can get)

r2 p1 k7p1 way - Row 2: P1; *K7, P1; rep from * till end of row (what does way mean? all they way? way to go? I am way laughing at you? I think it’s the latter.)

3 k2 p5k3 –  Row 3: K2; *P5, K3; rep. from * till last rep., P5, K2. (We’ve given up the niceties of putting “r” in front of the row, I am sensing a deterioration! Not to mention that the last repeats of the rows are not as written, I am filling in the gaps here.) 

4 p2k5p3 – Row 4: P2; *K5, P3; rep from * till last rep.. K5, P2. (Okay, now we’ve almost given up on spaces. Luckily the pattern was obviously starting to take shape, so an intuitive leap wasn’t that far)

5 k3p3x5 – Row 5: K3; *P3, K5; rep from * till last rep., P3, K3 (I am sure the “x” was a “k” at some point or another, or maybe she just got tired of writing down the letter “k”? Your guess is as good as mine.

6p3k3p5 – Row 6: P3; *K3, P5; rep. from * till last rep., K3, P3 (All right, GG is getting really, really tired of writing this pattern. Even her handwriting is starting to take a nosedive, she just wants to knit people!)

7k4p1k7 - Row 7: K4; *P1, K7; rep. from * till last rep., P1, K4 (Almost there, hang strong!)

8p417 - Row 8: P4 *K1, P7; rep. from *till last rep., K1, P4 (While I am sure she understood this jumble of numbers (and if you think about it, it does follow a pattern) but how on earth could she share this with anyone?)

* * THIS IS ABOUT TO GET REALLY FUNNY, PREPARE YOURSELVES * *

R9 to16. work beg sets backwards. (Umm…SERIOUSLY! This was how that pattern ended, with a cryptic instruction so insane the CIA couldn’t crack it. Thank goodness for the internet.)

• Row 9: Rep. Row 2.
• Row 10: Rep. Row 1.
• Row 11: Rep Row 4.
• Row 12: Rep. Row 3.
• Row 13: Rep. Row 6
• Row 14: Rep. Row 5
• Row 15: Rep. Row 8
• Row 16: Rep. Row 7

* * WIP it Baby, WIP it All Night…ALL NIGHT! * * 

There was no WIP Wednesday this week due to my hand, but here is a run down of what’s currently on my needles.

1. The Fault in Our Stars Scarf
2. Baby Blanket
3. A Duo of OSU Buckeye Hats (I cannot wait to finish these!)
4. Knitted Necklace (certain to be a disaster but I can handle 3 stitches at a time.)
5. Magical Thinking Scarf (I really need to think about where I put it, I can’t find it!)

* * Photos For Fun * * 

I may not be knitting all that I would like to, but that hasn’t kept me away from taking photos and playing with filters. These are some truly bad photos I admit, my hands are shaky and my positioning is for crap. This will not deter me however, I love taking a walk and just snapping away. Enjoy!

So here we are friends and neighbors, at the end of a labor of love post. I hope you’ve enjoyed what you’ve seen and read. As always insight in welcome and I hope to hear from you soon!

Will you find where is the star ?

Life Lessons

“The only way that we can live, is if we grow. The only way that we can grow is if we change. The only way that we can change is if we learn. The only way we can learn is if we are exposed. And the only way that we can become exposed is if we throw ourselves out into the open. Do it. Throw yourself.”
― C. JoyBell C.

“There will be a few times in your life when all your instincts will tell you to do something, something that defies logic, upsets your plans, and may seem crazy to others. When that happens, you do it. Listen to your instincts and ignore everything else. Ignore logic, ignore the odds, ignore the complications, and just go for it.”
― Judith McNaught, Remember When

“Like all failed experiments, that one taught me something I didn’t expect: one key ingredient of so-called experience is the delusional faith that it is unique and special, that those included in it are privileged and those excluded from it are missing out.”
― Jennifer Egan, A Visit from the Goon Squad

“There’s no need to wait for the bad things and bullshit to be over. Change now. Love now. Live now. Don’t wait for people to give you permission to live, because they won’t.”
― Kris Carr, Crazy Sexy Diet: Eat Your Veggies, Ignite Your Spark, and Live Like You Mean It!

“You win a few, you lose a few. Some get rained out. But you got to dress for all of them.”
― Leroy Paige

Toothsome, Mac Giggles

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Photography Beginnings

Within the last couple of years I have become more and more interested in photography. I think it has stemmed from travelling and living in such a beautiful part of the world, on the Sunshine Coast Australia.

I bought my first DSLR in 2011 and have never looked back. Initially I was unsure of how to use my new Canon 600D  Twin Lens Kit as I have always been use to the simple point and shoot digital cameras.

Although, my numerous digital camera did a great job at the time, I look back on photos and cannot believe the difference in quality.

At the start, I did a far bit of reading through the instruction manual, which I have now somehow lost, and picked up a few tips and tricks from there. Work and other commitments did get in the way for a while and then I decided to take part in a day workshop to learn how to properly use all the functions that my new piece of technology has.

The day workshop was instructed by Lucas Muro who is a professional photographer on the Sunshine Coast. The location was at the beautiful Noosa Botanical Gardens where we spent the entire day learning about our cameras.

The most important new function I learnt about was how to use Manual Mode. As most of us are aware, there are various settings on a camera and most of us tend to opt for the automatic settings, which is still completely ok and will produce a fine image. However, if you want more control over the types of photo you want to take then manual mode is the next step up.

After the workshop I set out for the next few weekends testing the settings particularly manual mode. Manual mode is still a setting that I am still getting use to after 2 years, but am slowly progressing.

I would love to hear how you started out or if you are just starting out photography as a hobby or career. Please comment below

To show this I decided to go to high ground and shoot wide (plus it gives you all a break from my long string of recent macros.) Located behind the State Capitol building in the foothills north of Salt Lake City is a 5,414 ft (1,650 m) knobby hill named Ensign Peak. It’s a short easy hike to a spectacular view, but we were short on time as sunset was approaching fast so we stopped at the “Vista Overlook” a small level area about 50 meters/yards up the trail that gives a view that’s still quite amazing. While setting up the canyon winds really started to pickp up. and my poor wife soon became a human windscreen using her open jacket to block the wind as I started cranking out 7 frame brackets in a large 180 degree Panorama.

I think the effort was worth it, Thanks Honey!

Salt Lake Valley at Sunset – 7 frame Panorama each frame a 7 bracket HDR using the Promote Control.

A typical Spring weather pattern was over the valley, you can see that the spacing of each “event” is about 5-10 minutes apart depending on the wind. This happens all the time here and we just learn to roll with it.

Sadly as nice as this is it should have been an epic sunset, but it faded as clouds rolled in to cover the Sun just before it would have lit these clouds up like no other.

Regardless I hope you enjoyed the view!

Happy Shooting!

Howard

Wanted to share another photography picture. The picture was actually taken during the day time but photoshop helped me achieve what I really wanted.

Copy written

Puce. May 2013
Saabira Razac

Sometimes I try to tell my own story, have the image spell out for the viewer a narration that is only specific to what you interpret from the image. A fading woman, cloaked in gentle pastels and strong in her own right, but somehow fading, as if a memory, a nostalgic impression of a time when life was at that moment were unchanging. I enjoy juxtaposing a firm pose with a melting, fading face. A gentle swish of the brush for hands and a gesture for feet. A soft and light touch with a strong and defiant posture. My figures have robust bodies, beautiful and strong, but somehow, no matter how hard I try to make them happy in their pose, they turn out otherwise.

They say you can see the artist hand in the faintest lines of a drawing, in the quick brush strokes, but you can see the artist in the emotion of the piece. Its not that my life is cloaked in sadness, for I am a very content person, but there is longing for the old and the past at times, and I can see it in my figures.

More character ideas. I’ve been trying to give each character a little story so they are more interesting. This is a alligator merchandiser.

“There once was a gator merchandiser. He resets the shelves at local stores. He always got stuck with resetting the freezer sections of the store. One day he got stuck in a freezer and froze to death. The end”

Ok. So Maybe I exaggerated the freezing to death bit

Drawn on my iPad using rocreate.

I choose to use myself as a test subject so I can practice new things, although it is easier to have a friend on hand, but sometimes you just can’t sit around waiting for people.  You have to do things yourself.

I do have what I call a “ghetto studio”.  I don’t have any real studio space available, so I just use small areas in my house.  As far as lighting, I currently have 2 umbrellas from Cowboy Studios and a couple of clamp lights from Lowe’s.  I’ve made a couple of softboxes from cardboard boxes, foil and rip-stop nylon.  I’m a little proud of my MacGuyver photography techniques   Nothing too elaborate or expensive at the moment.

Below are some of my latest shots using only 2 umbrellas for lighting.

Image created in Photoshop and Sketchbook Pro